HOW TO...DELETE EMAIL MESSAGES PERMANENTLY (John Chaffin)
Emails accumulate in Trash or Deleted Items folders unless a setting is changed to delete those files permanently upon exiting the program.
HOW TO...EMPTY OUTLOOK EXPRESS DELETED ITEMS FOLDER PERMANENTLY:
Click OUTLOOK EXPRESS> click TOOLS menu>Click OPTIONS> click MAINTENANCE Tab> Check “Empty Messages from ‘Deleted Items’ on Exit”> click OK (This deletes all items from Deleted Items folder each time you close Outlook Express.)
HOW TO...EMPTY THUNDERBIRD EMAIL TRASH FOLDER PERMANENTLY:
In the Tools menu click ACCOUNT SETTINGS> click SERVER SETTINGS (top of left column)> Check EMPTY TRASH ON EXIT> click OK. This deletes all emails from the Trash folder each time you close Thunderbird.